THE GREEK language is an admirable ark of values, culture and identity, which connects the Motherland with its children of the Diaspora, emphasizes in a message on the occasion of the celebration of World Greek Language Day at February 9The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Andreas Katsaniotis.
“The idea that the Greek language is celebrated in an organized and systematic way all over the world by the Greeks, our Diaspora, the philhellenes and the friends of the Greek language does not start only from the desire to honor our language for its continuity over time and for its contribution to world culture. It is also part of the integrated policies of the State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the involved bodies, to promote the Greek language and to ensure its continuous dissemination throughout the world “, the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs notes.
Furthermore, he points out that what is impressive, and often moving, is the way in which the celebration of the Greek language has been embraced and is being embraced by the Greeks of the Diaspora. “We are happy that every year we see enthusiastically celebrating our language Chairs and Centers of Modern Greek Studies in major Universities of the world, Greek-language Gymnasiums and Lyceums in Europe, some of which have Greek names, Primary schools that incorporate Greek-language programs, and Associations from North America to Africa and from Asia to Australia, offering Greek lessons to adults and children. All these bodies remain valuable helpers and continuators of our language in the world. And all of you, who learn, speak and love Greek, in whatever country of the world you live in, you are the irrefutable proof that the Greek language has a future “he added.
At the same time, Andreas Katsaniotis explains that on this day we honor the Greek language for many reasons. “For its timelessness through the centuries. In the same corner of the Earth, in ‘a stone cape in the Mediterranean’, as Georgios Seferis says, Greek is spoken ‘without interruption and with minimal differences’, says Odysseas Elytis. Because the Greek language for the first time gave content to ideas and abstract concepts and defined them with expressive power unique. Create words that are universal today. Because he fed the scientific and technical terminology, European and world literature, with a brilliant example of Homeric epics, tragic and lyric poetry, etc., and carried the texts of Christianity intact through the centuries. Because he wrote down social rules and rules of trade. For example, the inscription of Gortyna in Crete, the oldest written version of a legal text in the world (480-460 BC). Because even today, we call a “colleague” someone who works in the same field with us. However, some of us still do not know that the origin of the term “colleagues” comes from the field of Medicine. A colleague in Medicine, already 30 centuries ago, was the one who practiced the function for the first time based on knowledge. Every doctor hears Hippocrates’s call to his colleagues to swear that they will use the treatment to help and never to harm or wrong. Because from antiquity Greek has been the central link of the then known world, transmitting values ​​and culture to humanity. As Odysseus Elytis says, γλώσσαthe language extends over the centuries a certain ethos. This very element makes us think that the participant of Greek education was and is a citizen of the world, has the ethos of the Greek language and has a certain cultural identity. We are proud that the Greek Diaspora is the most living and valuable example of preservation, promotion and diffusion of Greek education and language in all lengths and breadths of the Earth “, he notes characteristically.
Finally, the Undersecretary of State points out that given all this, “we are able to say that the Greek language is not only one of the ‘longest living languages ​​in the world’,” says Linguistics professor Georgios Babiniotis, but also an admirable ark of values ​​and culture. and identity, which connects the Motherland with its children of the Diaspora. We are happy that this year we celebrate and honor the Greek language together with the Greek Communities where the Earth. At the same time, we are proud that we continue to steadily promote our national treasure for the benefit of Greece and the Hellenism of the Diaspora “.
See all the news
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
